


Alley Cat

by Starmouse123



Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-05-17 22:06:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5887108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starmouse123/pseuds/Starmouse123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean tries not to think of his daemon Raz as an inconvenience. He fails most of the time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When Raz finally settled into her form, it was an inconvenience. They’d been on a hunt for days, using Raz to shift into small animals to sneak ahead, and Dean hadn’t even noticed anything was different until after the fighting had stopped.

“Dean,” John called over, gesturing to the bag of supplies he had dropped in the scuffle, “Can you get Raz to carry that back to the car? I need your help with the body.” They’d tracked this werewolf to an abandoned barn outside of town, and once they’d made sure it was a lone werewolf, killing on its own, John had brought Dean along. The tinny aftershocks of the gunshot still rolled through his head in the relative silence, making him shake with nervous energy, but he had to man up and get over it. He was fourteen – it was time for him to start getting more experience in the field.

When Dean moved towards John, a small voice stopped him. “Dean,” Raz said, hushed, “I can’t.”

Frowning in confusion, Dean looked back, trying to see Raz in the deep shadows of the barn where the fight had happened. “What?”

A small form slunk into view. Raz was a house cat of some sort, whipcord thin, with a long tail and almond eyes. Her large ears were laid back.

Dean knew immediately what had happened.

“Dean!” John ordered, impatient this time, and Dean went over to help him move the body without another delay.

“Dad, Raz can’t get the bag,” Dean told him, not looking up from their task, and felt only a moment’s hesitation from his father.

“Ash will get it then,” John replied, and after a minute, Ash padded in from patrolling the outside of the barn to pick up the bag straps between her teeth. When she raised her head, she looked at Raz and gave a tentative wag of her tail before she led the way out.

John set the body on fire when they had dragged it out far enough, and Dean watched the flames burn the corpse into something unrecognizable. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen a daemon die, eroding into gold dust, but now that John was getting his first look at what Raz had settled into, crouching in the shadow Dean cast, it had a new significance for him.

Dean had seen that expression before, when John was sizing someone up, thinking of ways to make something work. He’d looked the same during another hunt, when the hunter they’d been working with had broken his arm before they had finished the job. There was a reason the long-lived hunters usually had dogs or birds as daemons - they could get away or hold their own in a fight. Now that Raz couldn’t shift, and was stuck in such a small form, she was a liability.

But John didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.

After they had finished up, they all got into the Impala, tired and ready to be done with this hunt. Dean sat in the back, Raz curled in his lap, and Ash jumped in the passenger seat. It was after midnight, so the ride back to the motel room was dark and quiet, interspersed only with the bright stabbing headlights of passing cars. When they got back to the motel room, Sam was already asleep in the bed farthest from the door, Millie tucked in securely beside him. Dean crawled into the bed with Sam, careful not to wake him with his movements, and Raz jumped in with him, under the covers.

He could already feel the tickle at the back of his throat. What kind of person was allergic to their own daemon?

Ash laid down, back against the motel door, and John made his way to the bathroom. Once he shut the bathroom door, Dean turned around and gathered Raz close to his chest.

“I’m sorry, I know you needed me to be bigger-“ she started, quiet so Ash couldn’t hear, but Dean buried his face in her fur.

“No, Raz, I think you’re perfect.” Dean whispered back.

Raz didn’t say anything else, just pressed her body closer. When she didn’t start purring, Dean knew she didn’t believe him. That hurt more than John’s silence.

“We’ll figure it out. We always do,” he said, and wished it were true.

 

* * *

 

 

Years later, when Sam ran away at Flagstaff for two weeks, they found him with Millie at his side, a red-golden retriever almost as big as the german shepherd Ash was. After John had finished reprimanding both Sam and Millie, and he finally noticed she wasn’t changing, he took them all out for burgers to mark the occasion.

It was almost two in the afternoon, so the inside of the joint was empty except for an elderly couple near the window and the workers behind the counter.

“Dean, you want anything?” John asked, not turning away from watching Sam look up at the menu.

“No,” Dean lied, “I’m not hungry. I’ll go get us a table.” John nodded absently and Dean turned and walked further into the building, picking out the cleanest table he could find. When he had settled in his seat, he watched Sammy as John ordered. Sammy kept his head down, but Millie and Ash circled the two, wagging their tails and brushing up against one another.

He felt Raz climb into his lap and curl up, but she kept quiet. Two hunts ago, a vampire had gotten her hands on Raz, and Dean had gone down like a sack of potatoes, too stunned to do anything. It was the first time anyone besides a family member had ever laid a hand on Raz, and it had felt like a violation. The vampire had laughed at Dean, the idea of a hunter with a lap cat as a daemon, up until John had decapitated her from behind.

They still hadn’t been apart for more than ten minutes since.

This was a good thing for Sammy. He didn’t have to worry about his daemon being crushed underfoot, or grabbed up by a monster, not like Dean did. Millie was big and strong enough to protect the both of them.

 

* * *

 

Sam and Dean didn’t realize Ori was Jimmy’s magpie until Castiel was taken back to heaven, leaving Jimmy behind in the warehouse, Ori shrieking overhead. They hadn’t heard the magpie speak at all before - they were always too busy, and Castiel had always left too fast for any kind of casual conversation. Demon possession was different; they were corrupted human souls, and their own corrupted daemons would possess the daemon of the vessel as well. They hadn’t realized angels would be different.

Once they were all back in the motel room, and Jimmy had his mouth full, wolfing down the burgers and fries that Sam and Dean had gotten him, it gave their daemons the opportunity to talk amongst themselves.

Their humans pretended not to hear. It wasn’t very polite to talk to someone else’s daemon.

“What’s it like, having Jimmy being possessed by an angel?” Millie asked, head propped up on the table.

Ori shifted on Jimmy’s shoulder. “It’s like the connection is…muted,” she finally said. “Jimmy is still there, but he’s not, at the same time.”

“I’ve seen him touch you,” Raz butted in. She was draped over Dean’s shoulders, tail twitching and hitting him in the face.

“It’s not the same as another person,” Ori reassured her, “Castiel told me that angels don’t have daemons because they don’t have souls, so-”

“He talks to you?” Jimmy interrupted, turning his head to look at Ori.

“He doesn’t want me to get lonely,” Ori muttered, and hunkered down in the hollow of Jimmy’s throat.

 

When Castiel was resurrected after being blown apart, Ori wasn’t with him.

Everyone knew what that meant.

 

* * *

 

 

Raz only let Lisa touch her once, after Ben had gone to bed one night. They’d watched a movie with the sound down, heavy-lidded and sleepy, worn out from a week of work. When the credits started rolling, Raz brushed against Lisa’s legs, staring up at her, expectant. Lisa had looked over at Dean, eyes sharp, but Dean couldn’t say anything, only watched as she bent over and petted Raz.

It was different, with her. Dean had grown used to the feeling of rough hands, looking to harm him through Raz, but Lisa just ran a gentle hand down the middle of Raz’s back, like she - they - were something precious. After Raz moved away, Dean hadn’t been able to meet Lisa’s eyes for the rest of the night. The small, secret smile she’d had when petting Raz faded, turned into something else entirely, and when Lisa led him up to bed that night, she didn’t make him talk about it. Raz had cuddled up to Lisa’s fox Silas, like usual, and by the next morning, everything had gone back to normal. It never happened again.

Two weeks after that, Sam showed up without Millie by his side.

 

* * *

 

When Castiel went crazy, he started talking to daemons. It generally made everyone very, very uncomfortable.

This time, Dean was alone with Castiel, waiting for Sam to come back and save him. He’d been pacing the room, trying very hard not to let his temper get the best of him.

Castiel was just trying to play nice.

Raz lounged in a chair, eyes half-opened and blinking slowly at Castiel, who was kneeling in front of her and talking her ear off.

“-so, the fact that you’re an Abyssinian breed, given your name, is, uh, very indicative of a self-fulfilling prophesy. I’m curious – when you were still shifting, what were your more preferred forms? You’ve settled in one of the smartest cat breeds on the planet, not to mention one of the most beautiful-“

Dean scoffed at that, but Castiel didn’t stop.

“-and I was wondering if you got a conscious choice in the matter. Obviously the daemons of John and Mary got to name you, but that doesn’t explain the form you settled in. I know Dean hates flying, but he was also allergic to cats,” he leaned closer like he was imparting a secret, “-I got rid of that when I raised him from perdition - but I still don’t quite understand-“

“Go talk to your own freaking daemon, Cas,” Dean snapped, grabbing Raz’s chair from behind and dragging it out of Cas’ reach. Raz startled at the movement and grabbed the chair cushion with her claws. “Oh wait, that’s right, you don’t have one.”

It was like kicking a puppy. Castiel’s faint smile dropped off his face. “Oh,” he said, and disappeared as abruptly as usual.

Raz hissed at Dean and swiped at the hand still on her chair, drawing blood.

“Ow, jesus, Raz!” Dean yelped. Raz slid off the chair and stalked out of the room, tail flicking in anger. “I’m sorry, okay?” he called after her. She didn’t reply.

 

The next time Dean saw Cas, he showed up on the Impala, naked and covered in bees, and tried to convince Dean that one was his daemon.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Days and nights didn’t exist in Purgatory.

Neither did a full night’s rest.

There was always enough light to hunt, and enough darkness to be hunted in turn by the other creatures that never slept. Time stretched on, an endless fight in monster land.

Much like how time had been suspended in a frozen twilight, Dean’s body had somehow slowed down too. A power nap here and there seemed to do the trick, and hunger remained a nagging want instead of a dire need.

It seemed, based on Raz, that Dean had kept his real, physical body, unlike his time in Hell. Raz hadn’t been a separate entity like she was here, which meant his body had come with him to Purgatory.

Everyone knew daemons were a part of the soul, separated at birth, and in the afterlife, there was no physical barrier between the two. It was how people recognized when someone died for good, or when a coma patient would never wake up again, because their daemons eroded into dust, a sign the soul had left the body. And in Sam’s case, how Dean had figured out Sam had been revived soulless when he hadn’t had Millie by his side. It had taken him a while, since after dying for the first time, the distance a person could put between them and their daemon increased exponentially, from dozens of yards to miles and miles, and Sam had convinced him that she was back at the Campbell’s base.

Raz could do the same thing, but Dean didn’t like to be separated from her so completely. He liked to be able to see her and make sure she was safe.

Now though, there were two small daemons circling the dark clearing, keeping an eye out as Dean and his new vampire friend Benny tried to get some rest. The faint tremble of a Behemoth walking through the forest had put them both on edge all day, even though it had never turned in their direction.

“Hey, Benny,” Dean started, voice pitched low and quiet so Raz and Cordeline couldn’t overhear. Benny’s daemon Cordeline was an American mink, almost the same size as Raz but twice as mean. He didn’t want the daemons to be able to hear this conversation.

“Hmm?” Benny still had his eyes closed, arms crossed over his chest.

For a moment, Dean thought about not asking, not revealing a weakness, but curiosity had always gotten the better of him. “Do you ever wish that your daemon had settled into a different form?”

That surprised Benny into opening his eyes. He regarded Dean for a long silent moment.

“What an interesting question to hear in Purgatory,” Benny drawled, shifting in place to get more comfortable.

“Don’t be a dick about it.”

“I’m not try’na be. Just pointing out a fact.”

That was true. Depending on the monsters, and whether they started as human or not, some lost their daemons in the transformation, or never had one at all. A few would kill for the chance to have their daemons back again.

“And to answer your question…” Benny went on, “no.” He closed his eyes again.

“Why?”

Benny sighed and shifted to face him, giving up all pretense of trying to sleep. “Are you saying I _should_ want Cordeline to be something else?”

“No, that’s not-“

“You think Cordeline can’t hold her own in a fight?”

“No! I didn’t mean –“ Dean turned away. “-forget it.”

“I’m not pickin’ a fight, Dean. I know what you’re asking.” Benny said, humor coloring his tone. Dean heard him shift some more, probably getting comfortable again. “I hear tell that a lot of hunters have dogs or other big-ass predators as daemons, but for me,” Benny made a disapproving sound, “they’d be the first to go. Once they have an animal like that, they don’t think they have a reason to get smart about it, y’know? It’s the people with the rats and the delicate creatures that are the best at surviving. They always know how to use what they’re given to the fullest.”

Dean picked out Raz’s small shape from the monotone underbrush, and the familiar gold moons of light reflected back from her eyes.  

 _You’re perfect,_ he wanted to say to her.

Maybe someday he would believe it.

 

* * *

 

 

When Sam had been soulless, Millie had been left behind in the Cage for a lifetime of pain before they managed to pull her back out. She’d never fully recovered from that. Her wounds had healed, but the psychological scars remained, and she refused to talk.

Even to Sam.

Dean had used this to his advantage when Gadreel took residence in Sam’s body. Millie couldn’t warn Sam about it, besides being visibly distressed whenever he was around and growling furiously at Dean. Although Raz had obeyed him and didn’t say anything to Sam until he already knew, Dean had gotten the silent treatment from her as well.

She didn’t talk to him for a week straight after he threw Cas out of the bunker.

 

Eileen’s own daemon couldn’t talk to his human either, for obvious reasons. Millie was fascinated.

“It’s not a bad thing sometimes, am I right?” Dev said from his perch. “Besides, you don’t have to be able to speak to be understood. It’s not at all unusual.”

Millie tentatively wagged her tail and leaned against Sam’s leg more.

Sam almost burst into tears.

 

* * *

 

 

Castiel was back in the Bunker.

Finally, Dean could be sure that Castiel was safe and fed and taken care of. The memory of Cas being homeless weighed heavy in his chest still, and Dean had to make sure it never happened again.

Cas had his own room, and permission to borrow Dean’s laptop whenever he felt like it (which was often), and more blankets than he knew what to do with.

Now that Cas had devolved into watching crap TV, Dean had introduced him to Dr. Sexy. It was a good excuse to rewatch it _and_ spend time with Cas, and that was currently what they were doing while sitting on Castiel’s bed.

“I don’t understand,” Cas said for the millionth time, squinting suspiciously at the screen from his nest of blankets. “Why did he lie to the nurse?”

“Because he’ll get in trouble if she knows he spent time with the other doctor,” Dean answered absently. “Now _shhh.”_

After another minute, Dr. Sexy did another incredibly dumb thing. Castiel sighed in irritation. Dean grinned and glanced over to see Castiel staring at the laptop screen with the same rapt attention he gave to everything, but he looked so relaxed and happy.

It was a good look on him, if regrettably uncommon.

Dean wanted to make it a regular thing.

Castiel turned and caught him looking. “Why are you smiling?” he asked, the corners of his own lips turning up in response.

“It’s nothing,” Dean answered.

That’s when Raz decided to jump up onto Cas’ lap.

They both froze.

“Uh,” Dean said.

“Oh.” Cas looked between the two as Raz settled into his lap, curling up on top of the blankets.

When Dean made no other move, Castiel turned back to watch the show, and Dean, being the coward he was, did the same.

For several minutes, Dean just watched the screen without paying even the slightest attention to it. His entire focus was on the man beside him. Even though he couldn’t see what was happening, he could feel the moment Castiel started petting Raz, first gently and then with confidence when she didn’t try to avoid the touch.

Touching another person’s daemon was one of the most intimate things you could do with another person. Even Dean had only touched Millie a handful of times in his entire life, and likewise Sam with Raz, usually when someone was dying. The feeling it gave all depended on the emotions the person touching another’s daemon felt towards them, and Castiel felt-

The screen blurred in front of him as Raz started purring.

“Dean, it’s okay.” Castiel said gently.

Dean nodded and looked over at Raz. She cracked an eye open and watched him.

_You’re perfect, Raz_

_I know_.

**Author's Note:**

> I figured the supernatural fandom needed some more crossovers, and we were sorely lacking in the daemon department, so...yeah.
> 
> Dean Winchester - [abyssinian cat](http://pawesomecats.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Abyssinian-cat.jpg) named Shahrazad, 'Raz'  
> Sam Winchester - [Red-golden retriever](http://bounderhillgoldens.com/assets/img_4736.jpg) named Millie  
> Jimmy Novak - [black-billed magpie](http://www.audubon.org/sites/default/files/sfw_black-billed-magpie1a.jpg) named Ori  
> John Winchester - [german shepherd](http://d21vu35cjx7sd4.cloudfront.net/dims3/MMAH/crop/0x0%2B0%2B0/resize/645x380/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Fassets.prod.vetstreet.com%2F75%2F4b4300a74a11e0a0d50050568d634f%2Ffile%2FGerman-Shepherd-2-645mk062411.jpg) named Ash


End file.
